The temporomandibular joint is formed between the temporal bone of the skull and the mandible, and is commonly known as the “TMJ”. The human body actually has two temporomandibular joints, one located on each side of the jaw in front of each ear.
The TMJ moves every time a person chews, talks, or even swallows.
The temporomandibular joint is a complex joint that must function in a coordinated way. Situated just in front of the ear, it consists of a condyle at the upper end of the mandible that fits into the condylar fossa on the lower part of the temporal bone of the skull. Each TMJ has an articulator disc of primarily cartilage material located between the condyle area and the temporal bone. The mandible, the large heavy bone of the lower jaw, is shaped rather like a horseshoe and pivots about the articulating disc in a gliding, hinge like motion. The disc moves within the joint during opening and closure of the jaw and, when displaced, strains the jaw muscles and causes muscle pain or fatigue around the jaw. In addition, disc displacement often causes a painful clicking in the TMJ during certain jaw movements as the disc moves between normal and displaced positions. Typical symptoms of temporal mandibular dysfunction (TMD) include cracking or popping sounds from the joint, chronic headaches, and limited movement of the jaw.
In TMD the muscles used for chewing and the joints of the jaw fail to work in conjunction. Due to emotional stress, some people clench their teeth so hard that they jolt their jaw out of its natural position, resulting in TMD. The misalignment of the TMJ causes muscle spasms, resulting in pain in front of the ear and in the head. The pain may also spread to the neck, shoulders and back. A number of problems may occur as a result of a temporomandibular joint disorder including headaches, jaw clenching, and bruxism (i.e., side-to-side grinding of teeth). A number of other problems may occur as a result of a strained disc, including TMJ lock, shoulder, neck, and back pain, and headaches.
The temporomandibular joint is susceptible to a variety of problems, some of which may be corrected by exercise therapy, and others which may require surgical techniques. The latter course of treatment gives rise to the need for post-surgical manipulation in order to preserve or enhance operation of the joint. In the past, therapeutic treatment of the temporomandibular joint by flexing the joint has been primarily provided by manual flexure of the joint performed by a nurse, physical therapist, or by exercise done by the patient.
There presently exist quite a few forms of treatment and several appliances used for the elimination of TMJ symptoms. A popular remedy is the insertion of a bite plate made of acrylic. It is worn either at night or 24 hours a day, from three to six months.
When worn during the day, it may be unsightly. Some others include full coverage maxillary night guards, Gelb appliances, and NTI devices.
Unfortunately, conventional methods of treating temporomandibular joint disorders can be costly, physically cumbersome, or involve invasive and irreversible treatment. Some of the more aggressive treatments of TMJ discomfort include orthodontic treatment, occlusal equibration, full mouth restoration of the dentition such as grinding down of teeth and various types of surgery. Orthodontic treatments and radical full mouth restorations merely indirectly address TMJ pain by adjusting the dental articulation and overall bite of the patient. Furthermore, orthodontic and restorative approaches are invasive, irreversible, and expensive.
Therefore, there is a need in the art to provide an appliance to relieve the symptoms of TMJ that is inexpensive, easy to use, only needs to be used for short intervals during the day, and is noninvasive. The present invention fulfills this need.